


cosmic love

by veryqueenly



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-04-21 13:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14285901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veryqueenly/pseuds/veryqueenly
Summary: No one’s ever supposed to believe your prophecies, your words. And yet here he is, the only one who seems to believe you—truly, sincerely. You don’t know what to think of that. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to care what you think.[modern greek myth au!]





	1. meeting the hero

**Author's Note:**

> this is supposed to be like a full-blown story with chapters that are in order and stuff, but unfortunately, i just don't have it in me to do it. so i guess, this is like a series of interconnected drabbles that detail link and reader's relationship. i might sometimes jump timelines but i swear they're all connected... somehow.
> 
> hope you enjoy reading!

**meeting the hero**

* * *

“You’re him,” you murmur softly as you dazedly look him up and down, committing his features to your memory. “You’re finally here.”

The young man gives you a look of confusion, clearly not understanding a single thing you’ve said. You sigh and close your eyes, pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration. Of course, he wouldn’t understand.

As far as you know, he’s not exactly the one who’s been gifted (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with prophecy, so it’s only expected for him to not understand a thing you’re saying.

Your eyes immediately widen in realization and you quickly cover your mouth with your hands as if that would erase your previous mistake. Silently, you find yourself praying to the Gods above, wishing he could just forget about everything you’ve ever said a while ago.

Your wishes aren’t granted, obviously.

“What are you talking about?” he finally asks after a moment of silence, giving you a look akin to curiosity. You watch as he steps forward, stopping only once when he’s finally standing in front of you.

Damn it, you should’ve just learned how to keep your mouth shut.

“Nothing,” you say quickly, turning your head away from him. From the corners of your eyes you watch as his lips curl down into a frown and at the sight, you could feel the beginnings of guilt weighing heavily down on you like lead.

Poor guy. If you just hadn’t run your mouth a while ago, he still would have been living in his own bubble of blissful ignorance. You bite your lip and avert your eyes, trying to look at your surroundings instead of at him.

Maybe, just maybe, he’d learn to give up if you ignore him long enough.

He places both of his hands on your shoulder, shaking you from side to side as if that would be enough to get the answer out of you. “What do you mean?” he asks again, his words accompanied by another shake.

You place your hand on his arms, trying to shake him off of you, but it doesn’t work. He’s much stronger than you are, and no amount of pulling and shaking will ever seem to work on him.

As though he’s realized what he’s done, the young man quickly pulls away from you, muttering a soft apology all the while. You nod your head at him in acknowledgment, and there’s a moment of silence settling between the two of you.

You bite the inside of your cheek as you look him up and down once more as you mull over your options. You know it isn’t fair to keep him in the dark and hide something valuable from him but at the same time…

Your grandmother’s words embed themselves into your brain, her stories ringing heavily in your mind.

The corners of your lips curl down into a frown and you shrug. It’s not like you’ve got anything to lose by telling him the truth, anyway. Sure, he isn’t going to believe your words like everyone else, but it’s not like it’s going to personally bother you. After all, what’s one more disbeliever to you?

“You’re going to be a hero,” you say, and at the questioning look he gives you, you shrug and explain, “You’re going to save the world from a certain evil.”

He blinks at you several times, trying to process your words in his head. It doesn’t take him long enough to do so, and the moment it all finally clicks together, the only thing he could do is tilt his head to the side, staring at you blankly like he somehow still needs more explanation.

A soft sigh escapes your lips and you run your hands through your hair in frustration. His response isn’t new to you, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying. Briefly, you wonder if telling him anything at all had been a huge mistake.

“Look,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest and moving away from you. He merely stands and stares at you in curiosity, waiting for your next words in silence. “You don’t believe me, I get it, but I—“

“I believe you,” he says and at his words, you freeze, eyes widening and jaw dropping in disbelief. Immediately, you turn your head to face him, surprise clear in your expression.

“You do?” you ask, voice loud enough to turn the heads of some of the passers-by on the two of you. But you don’t pay them any mind, your attention focused on the young man standing in front of you.

“I believe you,” he says once more, his words firm and clear. You’ve never even heard of those words before that it surprises you to hear them from him. Suddenly, you hear grandmother’s words in your head once more, her reminder ringing clear as day.

“There’s no way,” you say, mumbling the words softly to yourself in disbelief. Surely, a stranger like him wouldn’t ever truly believe the words you’ve uttered.

You lift your head up to look at him, narrowing your eyes at him in suspicion. Slowly, you make your way toward him, stopping only once when you’re finally standing in front of him. You study him once more, giving him another once-over as you repeat his words over and over in your head.

“W-what?” the young man asks nervously, stepping away from you, trying to maintain some distance between the two of you. “Is there something wrong?”

You don’t pay his words any attention. Rubbing your chin thoughtfully, you examine his form once more, trying to see whether or not there’s anything wrong with him.

If he isn’t affected by your curse, then surely there’s something that’s wrong with him, right? Either that or he’s just lying to make you feel better. You’re well aware of the fact that the Gods have always been cruel and unforgiving; surely, they—he—wouldn’t just erase the curse out of the blue.

The corners of your lips curl down into a frown. Even as he said all those words, you could tell that he hadn’t been lying. There was a sincerity in his voice that you couldn’t seem to ignore, a truthfulness that seemed to immediately strike you.

“Miss, are you okay?” the young man asks, waving a concerned hand in your direction. The sudden sound of his voice is enough to snap you out of your reverie, and slowly, you lift your head up to look at him.

It’s almost as though time has stopped moving for you. Suddenly, you find yourself staring into his eyes, drowning in the depths of them. You hadn’t really noticed it before, but wow, his eyes really are beautiful…

There’s a part of you that wouldn’t mind staring at him just a bit longer—

“Are you okay?” he asks once more, waving a hand in your face. You blink and focus your gaze back to him, suddenly realizing how close you’d been standing to him.

Immediately realizing your mistake, you quickly move away from him, muttering a series of apologies as you do so. He’s quick to wave them off with a smile, though upon closer inspection, you could see that he’s blushing, the tips of his ears slightly flushed.

Well, you guess that it’s nice to not be the only one embarrassed by the whole thing.

As if on cue, you suddenly remember your mother’s words from earlier, her favors ringing clearly in your head. “Ah, shit!” you exclaim, eyes widening in alarm. You chance a glance at the sky above you, noticing that the sun is already beginning to set. She’d asked you to fetch something for her in the market, but with how late it’s already getting, you don’t think you’re going to make it at all. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“What’s wrong?” the young man asks softly, concern evident in the way he says the words. You quickly whirl around to face him, opening your mouth and uttering the first answer that comes to your mind.

“My mother’s going to kill me,” you say, feeling the beginnings of panic settling in the pit of your stomach. You don’t know why you’ve told him that, but you know that now isn’t the time to question things you could potentially regret in the future.

"Is there anything I can do to help?” he asks quietly, and immediately you nod your head, silently thankful he didn’t inquire more about your mother. You aren’t sure you could afford to waste any more time talking about her.

“Do you know if there’s a market nearby?” you ask, pausing briefly before continuing once more. “You don’t have to take me there. You can just tell me the directions and I can go there by myself!”

“I, uh…” he begins shyly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly before opening his mouth and continuing, words spilling softly out of his lips. “I can take you there.”        

You freeze in your spot, blinking at him several times like you’re still trying to process his words in your head. “Really?” you say after a beat, looking at him like he’s finally grown two heads.

“Yeah,” he replies, nodding his head at you. “It’s not a big deal.”

“But I don’t even know your name,” you say in protest. You know you probably wouldn’t have any qualms with him helping you, but you still had to say it. After all, it’s true that you’re both still strangers to each other despite him being nice to you and all.                                                  

“It’s Link,” he says quietly after a moment, murmuring the words softly like it’s a secret he’s too shy to admit. For a moment,  

“Link,” you echo softly, tasting the name on your tongue. He nods his head sheepishly at you, the tips of his ears reddening once more. You couldn’t help but wonder what it is he’s blushing about, but you shake your head and dismiss the thoughts out of your head. Maybe he’s just embarrassed about giving his name to strangers.

“It’s nice to meet you, Link,” you say with a smile, extending a hand toward him as you tell him your name. The young man—Link—looks between you and your outstretched hand curiously like he’s somehow unsure what to do next.

 _Maybe he really isn’t just used to being around strangers_ , you think as you slowly bring your hand back down to your side. “Well, okay,” you say sheepishly, breaking the awkward silence between the two of you. “How do we get there?”

Link doesn’t reply to your question. Briefly, he turns away from you and whistles with his fingers, and at the sound, a beautiful, brown horse comes trudging toward him, stopping once it’s finally in front of him.

He turns his head slightly to the side to look at you and at the evident amazement in your expression, he suddenly becomes embarrassed, his cheeks flushing a bright red. Silently, he gestures for you to mount the horse, and for a moment, all you could do is look at him blankly like you haven’t understood him at all.

“What is it?” he asks cautiously, concern evident in the way he looks at you.

“I don’t know how to ride a horse,” you answer meekly, biting your lip as soon as the words are finally out of your mouth. It’s a secret you’ve never intended to tell anyone, lest they say something bad about you, but you know it had to be done. After all, you know that you couldn’t just hide anything forever from anyone, anyway.

The corners of his lips curl up into a small, amused smile, one that seems to go unnoticed by you. “I’ll help you.”

And true to his word, he does.

As soon as he’s done helping you up, Link settles behind you, moving to grip the reins firmly in his hands. He takes one last look at you, searching your face for any signs of discomfort before he finally commands the horse to move forward.

The horse moves at a leisurely pace and at this moment, you almost forget you’re in a hurry. You feel strangely relaxed, as though all your worries have never existed at all. All that matters is this, the two of you together, sitting in silence so comfortable you have to wonder whether or not you’re strangers at all.

“Link?” you ask, and the only response you get from him is a hum of acknowledgment. You think about the things he’s done for you today—the way he’s believed in you even when no one else would and the way he’s offered his help even when he barely knows you at all—and the corners of your lips tug up into a small smile. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me today.”

He doesn’t give you a reply.

The smile on your lips grows a fraction. It’s okay. You know he understands.


	2. confessions in the dusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the quiet of your surroundings, Link tells you a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me so long to be able to publish this... to be honest, i had let it sit on my drafts for so long because i was too embarrassed to post it. but here you go now i guess

**confessions in the dusk**

* * *

You aren’t sure how long you’ve sat there in silence, staring at your surroundings and admiring the scenery before your eyes. You’ve never really traveled on a horse before, what with your family being poor enough to be able to only afford your daily meals and other necessary items, and so riding on one feels like a new experience, something you’re sure you wouldn’t ever forget in your lifetime.

You’ve also mostly been traveling on foot, always hurrying to get where you want to and so, stopping by and admiring the scenery every once in a while has never really been an option for you. But now that you’re finally seeing it—watching the greenest mountains fade into view as you pass by it—you couldn’t help but feel just the slightest bit overwhelmed. There’s a mixture of excitement and curiosity as you wonder what lies ahead of you, but there’s also fear stirring within you as you think about what kinds of monstrosity wait for you in a territory you’ve never been familiar with.

You turn your head slightly to the side, casting a glance at the young man sitting just behind you, wondering about how he feels with all of this. Doesn’t he ever feel scared about what kinds of things he’s going to face at all? Or excited about the things he’s going to see next?

You stare at him once more, trying to read the expression written on his face. He doesn’t seem too bothered by the whole thing; there’s a mixture of calmness and ease in his features, and briefly, you could only wonder if he’s done all of this before.

You cast a glance between him and the horse and all of a sudden, you understand. _Of course, he’s done all this before,_ a voice in your head tells you, its words harsh and scolding. _He’s a traveler!_ Mentally, you smack yourself in the head for not having realized it sooner.

You take another moment to admire your surroundings, staring at the series of mountains looming just in front of you, seemingly growing smaller and smaller as you grow farther and farther away from it. You sigh softly, turning your head away from the view to cast another short glance at the young man behind you. You could only imagine that a traveler such as Link would grow bored of the scenery he sees, especially if he’s seen them a thousand times already.

 _And maybe he’s already even seen the edge of the world,_ a voice in your head supplies, and immediately, you feel a sudden pang of envy in your chest. It’s not like it’s impossible, anyway. You’ve heard stories and rumors of people who have left the town to travel to the edge of the world and never came back.

Silently, you wonder how it feels to be someone like him—to be a traveler and leave this town behind and never come back, to leave the only life you’ve ever known behind and never even look back. You wonder how it feels like to be free, breaking free of every single thing that binds you in this town, in this world. Would it be as fun and as exciting as you’ve imagined, going to places and doing everything you please? Or would it be worse than living this life, carrying an age-old burden you’ve never even asked for in the first place?

Luckily, or unluckily for you, the young man seems to have noticed your internal struggles. He stares at you for a moment, the corners of his mouth twisting in a concerned frown. “What is it?” he asks, and when you finally lift your head up to look at him, you could see the worry etched in his features.

You look down and chew your bottom lip between your teeth, silently wondering how to properly address your question. Would it be too personal to ask him if he’s already been to the edge of the world? Would it be too invasive to ask him if he’s already seen what it’s like? You know that you’ve only just met him mere moments ago, but you couldn’t help the feeling of curiosity that’s been bugging you for a while now, practically begging for your undivided attention.

Still, is it really alright to just ask him a question like that out of the blue? You haven’t really known him for a very long time to know what exactly his response would be, and you certainly haven’t known him for a very long time to know how exactly he would react to you posing that question but…

“You look like you want to ask me something,” Link says kindly, and at the sound of his words, you immediately look up at him, suddenly startled out of your thoughts. He’s staring straight ahead, his gaze focused on the road before him. “Go ahead,” he continues after a moment, pausing to glance briefly at you, giving you an encouraging smile. “I don’t mind at all.”

You chew your bottom lip between your teeth once more, mulling over his words in your head. Should you really go ahead and ask him everything that’s been bugging you? Well, he did say you could ask him anything you wanted, so you could only hope he wouldn’t get mad at you for doing so.

“Have you ever been to the edge of the world?” you finally ask, looking up at him with curious eyes. Link seems a little taken aback by your question, blinking at you several times as he tries to process your words in his head.

“Edge of the world?” he echoes, a tinge of confusion evident in his voice. You nod your head eagerly in response, biting your lip as you wait for him to finally give you a response.

Link is silent for a moment and you watch as he slowly lifts his head up and cast a brief glance at the darkening sky above him, staring at the clouds gently rolling by before turning back to focus on you, staring at you like he’s trying to study you.

“What makes you say that?” he says finally after a moment, the corners of his lips quirking up into an amused smile. At his words, your eyes immediately widen in alarm, your cheeks instantly heating up in shame.

“W-well,” you begin immediately, flailing your arms wildly as though in embarrassment. The action causes you to wobble a bit in your seat, and if it weren’t for Link tightening his arms around your middle, you’re sure you would have fallen off the horse already, landing unceremoniously on the ground below you.

“Whoa there,” he murmurs softly, pulling you closer so that your back is flush against his chest. You could feel your cheeks heating up at his actions, and immediately, you turn your head away from him, trying to hide the blush coating your cheeks.

“Try to be careful next time,” he says and you nod your head and mutter a soft apology as you steady yourself in your seat, suddenly aware of how close the two of you are from one another.

“A-as I had been saying before,” you begin once more, focusing on the scenery before you instead of at him, silently wishing he wouldn’t notice how hot your cheeks have become.

“You just look like someone who travels a lot,” you continue, and from the corners of your eyes, you watch as he nods his head agreement, looking suddenly very interested in what you have to say next. “I mean, you have a horse and you seem to know a lot about places, so I kind of just put two and two together,” you explain, muttering the words softly, shyly.

He hums softly under his breath, acknowledging your words and from the corners of your eyes, you watch as he lifts his head up and stares at the sky once more, casting another brief glance at the darkening horizon before turning his focus back on the road ahead of him.

From the looks of it, he seems to be in deep thought like he’s wondering what he should say next and you could only silently hope that he doesn’t take your question the wrong way.

“I do travel a lot,” he says finally after a moment of silence, murmuring the words so quietly you wouldn’t have even heard them at all had you not been sitting too close to him. “Perhaps you would find it hard to believe me, but I’m searching for someone important.”

“Why would I find it hard to believe you?” you ask, and as soon as the words have left your lips you clap your hands over your mouth, your eyes widening as the realization of what you’ve done quickly washes over you. Immediately, you could feel the beginnings of regret washing over you, but before you could even open your mouth and apologize, he’s already chuckling in amusement like he’s found your actions a little funny.

“It’s okay,” he says, and even without looking at him, you could tell that he’s still smiling. “Like I said before, I don’t really mind it all that much.”

There’s a moment’s pause that comes from him, and you take the moment to turn your head and look at him, trying to study the expression written on his face. His eyes are serious, the smile on his face from before suddenly gone. He seems to be in deep thought like he’s remembering a memory from a distant past, and immediately you feel a pang of regret.

You could tell that what you’ve asked him has brought forth an unpleasant memory and there’s a part of you that wishes that you could just take it all back if it meant you wouldn’t have to see him like this, looking sad and lost and confused with everything that’s happened in his life.

You know that you’ve only met him mere moments ago, but you feel close to him for some reason, like you both share the same soul, the same fate. You wish you could understand why.

“My father is the sun god,” he says suddenly after a moment, the sound of his voice snapping you out of your thoughts. For a moment, you’re silent, blinking curiously as you try to process his response in your head. And then all of a sudden, your eyes are already widening in surprise, your jaw dropping open in shock.

“What?!” you exclaim, disbelief evident in your tone. He chuckles softly at your reply, clearly amused by the expression on your face.

“I know,” he says with a nod, the corners of his lips curling up into a small smile. “It may be hard to believe me, but I swear I’m stating the truth.”

A moment of silence passes between you, long and uninterrupted. Link gently steers his horse to the right and from where you are seated, you could see that the path is identical to the one you’ve passed just moments before.

“He left my mother before I was even born,” he continues after a long while, murmuring the words quietly once more. You listen intently to his every word in silence, afraid it’ll ruin the moment if you so much as move a little. “I don’t think she was aware he’s a god when she fell in love with him, but even when she found out, she still loved—loves—him nonetheless.”

“But my mother is very ill, you see, and with each day that passes, she’s even closer to death’s door than before,” he explains, a sad smile crossing his features. You blink curiously, a little startled to see it crossing his expression, but it’s gone before you know it, leaving you wondering whether or not you’ve merely imagined it at all.

“She told me her greatest wish would be to see my father one last time,” he says softly, and there’s a certain hint of sadness in his voice that you don’t fail to catch.

There’s a part of you that wishes you could do something about it, but another part of you knows that your efforts are futile. After all, aren’t the two of you still practically strangers? Despite the warmth and comfort you feel in his presence, you’re well aware that you still barely know each other.

“And so here I am now, trying my hardest to search for his whereabouts,” he finishes with a dry laugh, gesturing vaguely to himself for emphasis. The sadness in his voice is gone and there’s not even a single trace of it like it’s never been there before. Briefly, you could only wonder whether or not you’ve merely conjured up the whole thing once more.

There’s a moment of silence that settles between the two of you, growing longer and longer with each second that passes. You turn your head slightly to catch a quick glance at him before taking a deep breath, trying to prepare yourself for what you’re about to say to him next.

“The sun god cursed my grandmother, Cassandra,” you finally begin after a moment of quiet, murmuring the words so softly they’re almost a whisper. You don’t know why you’re saying all of this to him, especially after your mother forbade you to tell anyone outside your family.

You don’t know if it’s because you just don’t want things to feel awkward between the two of you or if it’s because you simply don’t want him to feel alone, but you don’t care. All you know is that there’s a certain comfort in knowing that the two of you have shared a similar fate in the hands of a single god. That, and though you may never tell him this at all, you also feel most comfortable with him than with anyone else you’ve ever met.

“He fell in love with her when she was younger, but my grandmother loved my grandfather so much that she found the idea of being with anyone else other than him repulsive,” you continue after a moment’s pause, remembering the words your mother had told you over and over before to make you understand why things are the way they are.

“And so she turned away his affections, but the sun god didn’t like the idea of being rejected by her, so he cursed her entire family to be able to see the future but no one to ever believe them,” you say almost too quietly, pausing briefly to allow the weight of your words to sink in.

“For a while, my grandmother tried her best to find a way to undo the curse. She tried to pray to the gods, tried to ask them to aid her, to help her in any single way they could, but in the end, her prayers had proved themselves to be meaningless,” you say, the corners of your lips curling up into a wry smile.

 “And so here I am today, a carrier of a curse that I’ve never even asked to have in the first place,” you finally finish, shrugging your shoulders nonchalantly like you couldn’t care less about the whole thing now.

“Is that why you told me I was going to be a hero when we first met?” he asks, and you turn your head slightly to look at him, finding him staring at you questioningly, evidently interested in your response.

“Yes,” you reply truthfully, a soft laugh escaping your lips. Sometimes, you could still so easily forget how hard it is to believe that you’ve finally met someone who believes in you and the words you utter. “And it’s why I was surprised when you told me you believed in me,” you add softly, the corners of your lips curling up into a small smile.

“Maybe it’s because I’m different from everyone else,” he says jokingly, giving you a small, amused smile.

“Maybe you are,” you agree with a soft laugh, the smile on your lips widening into an almost grin.

The rest of your journey continues on in silence, but somehow, after all the conversations you’ve had with him, you find that you don’t mind it at all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> whew, i haven't really written anything in a few months so sorry if this is like wonky and stuff. if you have an idea or something, please feel free to let me know! i don't have a lot of ideas for this one so i'd be really grateful for the help!


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